With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues.
In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming machines that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.
One conventional way in which awards for gaming devices are determined is by the concept of “paylines”. In this case a player, prior to playing a game, places a wager on one or more paylines and if a winning combination of symbols (such as three of the same symbol in a row from left to right) occurs on a payline on which the player has placed an award is awarded.